• Hall of Flowers drew hundreds of cannabis brands and retailers to Santa Rosa, even as the California market struggles.

• The show was smaller and quieter this year, with survival the main theme for many attendees.

• Despite the challenges, buyers and brands still used the event to strike deals and grow their businesses.

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Santa Rosa, CA: Hundreds of California cannabis brands and retailers attended Hall of Flowers, the state’s flagship trade show last week, looking to secure new business in one of the nation’s most challenged markets.

In some ways, this year’s installment was emblematic of the California market itself — paired down from previous years with fewer exhibitors and attendees, a reverberation of the widespread financial struggles facing most operators.

“It’s not 2018 or 2019,” event founder Dani Diamond told Cultivated. “Whoever is here seems to be here to stay.”

Survival has become the prevailing theme in the world’s largest regulated market, highlighted by a much more subdued vibe this year on the showroom floor, after parties, and session meetups. 

Visitors from coast to coast

Despite California’s vast market challenges, the trade show at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa is still an important event for attendees to ink business deals.

The event remains one of the few in the country that links retail buyers with brands aiming to expand their store footprint.

JC Malby drove nearly five hours to Santa Rosa from Mt. Shasta, a remote mountain town about 80 miles south of the Washington border that’s largely inaccessible during the winter months.

“I’m here to meet my vendors,” Malby, a buyer for The Green Heart Collective, told Cultivated “I can come and see 20 to 30 people all in one visit.”

Accessories maker Relegated Renegades made the cross-country trip from New York City to Northern California’s wine country to meet face-to-face with existing and prospective customers and to “keep our finger on the pulse of the industry,” owner Nathan Mark told Cultivated.

Los Angeles-based Juana aimed to boost awareness of its wellness brand and showcase its new flower line that will launch in a month or so.

“Every product is carefully crafted with clean, responsibly sourced ingredients, and reflects our deep commitment to safety, sustainability and community care,” owner Rachel Xin told Cultivated.

New opportunities for longtime attendees

Andrew Berman has been attending Hall of Flowers since the event’s inception in 2018 when he was chief executive of Harborside Inc. in Oakland.

He attended this year as an exhibitor to boost awareness for Arcana Collective, which he cofounded with longtime cannabis executive Michael Klein to help breeders monetize intellectual property of popular flower strains, seed banks and consulting services.

The company participated in the Breeders Village, a new Hall of Flowers addition that featured more than 40 top cannabis growers, as well as meet-up sessions and seed drops.

“The Breeder Village is something unique and something special so that’s why we jumped in,” Berman told Cultivated. 

Klein is pitching prospective customers, both commercial and consumer, on the promise of delivering superior genetics from a trusted source.

The ownership group includes a ‘who’s who’ in the cultivation world, including Josh D, OG Ghost, Ras Kaya Paul, Chemdog, Suny Cheba, and Rev Fuji, a mix that’s crafted some of the world’s most popular flower strains.

Most breeders have not been fairly compensated for their IP or had it copied, marketed, and sold without their approval, Klein said.

“The people closest to the plant and creating the most value are getting rewarded the least,” he said.

Zanna, a cannabis brand, has had success drumming up business at the show in prior years.

“Hall of Flowers in previous years has helped us get into a lot of shops,” said Murhawe Halie, a Los Angeles sales representative for the indoor flower brand based in San Bernardino County.  

“We’re based in Southern California so we love to show our flower and brands to some Northern California shops and do business with them,” Halie said.

Eyes on New York 👀

Some executives, like Coastal Sun Farms’ Darren Story, wanted to talk to brands entering other state markets and those in the hemp-derived THC space. 

A California  bill recently approved by lawmakers would end the retail ban on these products and regulate them more akin to cannabis.

“If AB8 passes we’ll figure out if there’s an opportunity for cannabis brands to participate in that market,” Story, the chief financial officer of the Santa Cruz-based cultivator and brand, told Cultivated during an interview at its booth on the showroom floor.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to approve the measure before the end of the session on September 30.

Over the last several years the trade show has increasingly drawn more ancillary businesses like PayRio Inc., a Northern California-based payments service provider.

Founder and CEO Aubrey Amatelli said the event provides a prime opportunity to personally connect with clients, strengthen existing relationships with partners, prospect for new customers and referrals, and stay updated on industry trends.

She prefers to walk the floor and network, rather than setting up a traditional booth. 

“This strategy works because it leads to more organic conversations,” she told Cultivated. “It’s significantly more cost-effective, gives us freedom to attend sessions and see competitor booths, and ensures our brand stands out visually in crowded spaces.”

Next month Hall of Flowers will debut its trade show in New York City at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan. 

“It’s a hot and exciting market,” Diamond told Cultivated. “We have a lot of first timers that are going to launch their product in New York.”

Story edited by Jeremy Berke.